The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1887-03-21
THE FOURTH LECTURE
IN BISHOP j. ]. KAIN's COURSE
OF Lenton Dlscourses-The Points on which
tho Catholic Church hinges It's Claim to
DO tho True Church, md s1cans OF
Redemption to tho Human I,ncc, ~

In commencing his fourth lecture last
evening, Bishop Kahn made n short re.
sumo Of his previous lectures, the purport
Of which waa to prove that Christ had
truly redeemed man and purchased for
him anew the privileges forfeited by the
Sin Of Adam; and that He had created
His church to teach the truths OF the
gospel aud to communicate to man the pur.
chased merits OF the Divine Rsdeemer.
As this church Of Christ il to continue all
days to discharge It's mission Of teaching
tho truth and ministering the grace oil
Christ TOT human souls, the great, practi.
cal question put before every honest In.
quiter after the redemption, is: "Where
Is that church,
"The attributes and characteristics given
to It in Holy writ" ssjd the Bishop, "mosi
clearly. point 1t out, Teaching with Gods
authority the doctrines OF divine revela.
ton, 1t must DO invested with the prerog.
alive OF infatfibiiity, for otherwise its or.
roneous teachings would bear the divine
sanction-a blasphemy all must dis.
card. Again, a mark most plainly stamped
upon his church is unity, and unity in
the s~tticteat sen6e;-one kingdom, one
shepherd, II government under our Di.
vine Lord and His earthly representa-
tive system OF doctrine lone min.
istry Of g%race;--'one Lord, ono faith, one
baptism
THE Church OF Christ muat bs holy,
and not only must ita doctrines repress
human passions, prescribe precep.s Of
highest morality, aud lead to holiness;
but the church through Its ministry must
have power to apply the merits Of the
Blessed Redeemer and thus,to c!esnseffom
sin aud communicate tho eanctifying
gracea Of Christ. The Church OF Christ
must be, not only in name, but in reality
Catholic or universal, teaching all the doc.
trines OF revelation to all men during all
ayes; for all this Is expressly contained in
the words OF the commission given BY
Christ to the first pastors Of this church.
Another essential mark Of the true
church is its ap~ostolicity since it is writ.
ten (Eph. 1I-2O) that the church lis built
upon the foundations OF the Apostles"
No church evidently can lay any just
claim to the glorious title OF the Church OF
Jesus Christ, unless it can date its origin
back to Apostolic times, and show that 1t
isthe very church which Christ organized
and commissioned, and. which the
Apost!ee first propagated. But not only"
sud the Bishop, "must the true church,
which represents the authority OF Chris.
on earth, 10 back, as an organized body to
Apostolic times, but it must possess the
pIerogative Of an undying LIE. Guaran-
teed by Jesus Christ to do its work OF
teaching and sanctifyipg all nations, it
cannot perish till time shall be no longer.
"That all these characteristics of the
church spoken Of in scripture belong to
the Catholic church alone, is generally adj
mitted by all whose judgmenti s not biased
by prejudice or education. But there are
certain reactiona suggested by an impartial
study Of this subject, which add immenHe
weight 10 the argument deduced from the
consideration Of the above marks of the
true church. What, for instance, seems
more natural than the query, what other
church except the Catholic church ia old
enough to claim Christ its iounder?' Does
lot ul0tSiy tClA 10 VI tlt UEl2ll auU AuIQOr
Of every Protestant denomination? Again
Christ founded this church on Peter as on
an immovable rock. 10 Peter He solemnly |
entrusted the feeding Of His flock, q short
previous to withdrawing His visible
presence from earth. Nov, what church |
has ever preserved its connection with
Peter and his successors, in whose keeping
were placed the keys OF the kingdom Of
heaven? Over what chutch does Peter in
tbs person Of his successor continue to
"What church hiss alone fulfilled the i
commission OF preaching the Cos.
pei to all nations? Has any other so.called |
church ever converted nations and brought
them from Paganism to Christianity ex-
sept the Roman Catholic church? In fact
II is only the Catholic church which con.
,istently claims to be a teacher sent by
Sod to preach the doctrines OF divine rev
She alone claims the power Of
the grace Of Christ to human
souls. To any one who reflects what
church ought to be-what the
Bible declares it is and must bs-the
Catholic church must commend itself as
manifest work Of our Divine Re-
leemer."
This subject will be still more fully do.
ypl0nad In pavt Erp1or1c 1nok,~o |